David Sears (1752-1816)

He was born at Chatham, Massachusetts. He came to Boston with his mother in 1763 and was raised by his stepfather, Samuel Ballard. He became involved in the China Trade and quickly became one Boston's most successful young merchants. In 1775, he left for Europe with Daniel Greene and on his return engaged in privateering. He was a founding director of the First Bank of the United States and an able financier who was forced to foreclose on the 30-square mile Waldo Patent which included the towns of Searsport, Searsmont, Prospect & Knox. He founded the "Widow's Fund" at Trinity Church and lived in "a large house with a terraced garden" at the upper corner of Beacon and Somerset Streets. In 1786, he married Ann, daughter of John Still Winthrop, and sister of Thomas Lindall Winthrop, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts. They were the parents of just one child, David, who was the sole beneficiary of his $800,000 fortune, then the largest inheritance received by a single individual in the history of New England.